As a leader, how do you feel about 360 feedback?
Some key considerations….
Why bother?
What will you do with the feedback? Why is it important to you?
Clarify what your current leadership or development objectives are first.
Where are you on your leadership trajectory? What’s required of you and/or your peers in light of the complexity and intensity of your roles? When the feedback is channeled into some specific focus, it is far more valuable.
What type?
Generally speaking, I recommend a structured feedback process using a psychometric tool (eg: Emotional Intelligence, Strengths, Behavioural, Personality Types). Anonymity can be protected this way, which allows for greater honesty. You can invite a decent number of respondents which helps to establish valuable themes and perspectives and mitigates against individual bias or subjectivity dominating the feedback conversation.
There are exceptions but this ‘type’ generally leads to more thorough and objective experience for all involved. Interviews with respondents can be hugely valuable, if budget permits. Equally, informal 1:1 feedback conversations can be useful to for live, specific feedback on a particular matter.
Who from?
It’s worthwhile considering who you’re asking to provide you with feedback.
And I don’t just mean getting a mix of supporters and challengers. I also mean from different types of ‘stakeholders’ in your role.
I tend to use the Emotional Capital Report quite a lot. It breaks down the cohorts/groups of raters and responders as follows:
- Direct reports – people you manage/lead directly
- Peers – colleagues at the same level
- Managers – your senior colleagues
- Other – possibly international colleagues, clients, vendors, intermediaries, consultants or other people you interact with consistently who don’t fit into the categories above.
What value?
It’s helpful on a number of levels which could include;
- Understanding if others see you as you see yourself. If not, how come?
- This can raise your self-awareness and create an opportunity to develop your emotional intelligence.
- Clarifying the positive impact of your strengths on others so you can leverage them further.
- Identifying your blindspots, which could also include gaps in your armoury, strengths in overdrive, communication style clashes and more.
- Highlight ways you can improve your leadership impact with different people and/or in different situations.
And don’t forget…
Feedback is a gift if you choose to receive it that way.
Some feedback is hard to receive. One client recently got annoyed reading a comment. His frustration was palpable. He got defensive and argued his case.
Once the silence fell, we discussed his reaction. He concluded that he was ‘triggered’, and that this was helpful to know in its own right.
Knowing that he was triggered by that type of comment helped him understand how he might react the same way to other ‘triggers’. He took ownership of the button that was pressed, even though he disagreed with the lever that triggered it.